Madness
by Bunnyhoppp
Summary: Sakura always dreamed of working as a Waitress for the famous restaurant Akatsuki and when she lands a job there, unexpectedly her life gets a little harder. Or maybe a lot. Dealing with high expectations, old and new relationships and her believing the Akatsuki is haunted, Sakura realizes her job at the Akatsuki doesn't only include Waitressing.
1. Prologue

Hihihihi! ^.^ Yay new story time! !$# !$ I've been MIA for a while in my other story for my bonus chapter, but I had some problems with it, then I didn't want to write it anymore and when I finally came around to finishing it, I lost the paper with all my little suggestions again. So :/ But I'm about to finish it!

Anyways, this story is hopefully gonna be as good or even better than Ready When You Are. I'm nervous about it, but even if only one person follows it, then I'll be happy :D

So, I'll stop blabbering and let you read on ^.^

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Prologue

"That's not a good idea." Sasori Suna said, leaning against the wall of his Boss' office. His Boss was also his best friend, which was why he was in the office to begin with, because God knows Pein couldn't make one decision without him. But this…no. Hell no. He already wasn't feeling it. He could already imagine all the schedule changes he would have to do.

"But you haven't even heard the best part yet." Pein tried to give Sasori an award winning smile, but he already knew Sasori wasn't going to fall for it. For this idea to work, Sasori had to be up for it. Especially since it had a lot to do with him.

"You know I hate it when you start a sentence with a Conjugation, Pein." Sasori sighed, as though he really was upset with that fact, but instead, he was just trying to buy himself time. He knew when Pein said something was the best part, it was actually the worst.

"You get to be their Trainer." Pein wiggled his fingers playfully, trying to add a flare with the news he knew Sasori would think was horrible. In fact, he could already see it in the red head's face. It fell into a sort of 'You got to be shitting me' look. Pein sighed and grabbed a pen, tapping it like he usually did in stressful situations. Most of them with Sasori. "Come on, we need a new employee. Just one. Konan is working herself too hard and so are you. You and her both need more days off." He said.

"I have a better idea, give Deidara more days and Konan less. I don't need nor want more days off." Sasori fired back easily, making Pein sit back in his chair.

"Sasori, you take four days off in a month…on a rare occasion." He pointed out in an exasperated voice. "Maybe six if I force a couple on you. You need to take more time to yourself." Sasori looked away, deciding not to grace Pein's sentence with a response. Pein only sighed again. "I'll only get you the best employee. You can even pick out which ones you want to be interviewed." Pein was really hoping some of this was breaking through to Sasori, because he really needed someone new. Sasori was able to push through working himself half to death, but he didn't like how tired Konan was lately nor did he like how tired he was lately as well. The Akatsuki needed another employee and Sasori was just being selfish.

"No." With that, Sasori turned on his heel and walked out the office. Pein groaned and dropped his head onto his desk, creating a loud thud. Of course his best friend would be the most stubborn, uptight, OCD brat anyone could ever meet. From that guy to his almost as stubborn, nagging and loud girlfriend, he barley had time to think for himself anymore. He sure did pick 'em.

Pein held up a planned out and neat stack of packets, looking down at Sasori who was sitting in his desk chair. Even though Sasori had refused the idea of having a new employee, Pein hadn't stopped looking for one. For the past month, he had been taking resume after resume, putting together a stack of the top ten. Only the best. The ones he knew Sasori would appreciate the most. There were two that Pein really wanted, but he wanted Sasori to…want the new recruit. The red head had finally warmed up to the idea of maybe having a Trainee, but still hadn't exactly agreed to it. He only reluctantly said he would look over some of the applications.

"Okay," Pein said in a dramatic voice. "Top ten." He dropped them down on his desk and Sasori looked at them. "Go on." For a second, Sasori did nothing but stare at the papers, wondering why he agreed to this. He could be doing more important things at that moment. Like doing what he was supposed to be doing. Working. Sighing, he reached out and grabbed the first resume, knowing that it was the tenth one. Pein would of course put the best at the bottom, saving the best for last. Sasori barley glimpsed at the paper, before throwing it into the trash. He saw Pein open and close his mouth out the corner of his eye, but his Boss didn't say anything.

Sasori picked up and tossed out five more before Pein slammed his hand on the papers, not letting his Manager pick up anymore just he could skim them for a spilt second then toss it. He wasn't angry, he was just frustrated. Very, very frustrated.

"What is your problem?" Pein hissed. Okay, maybe he was a little angry. Sasori smirked at Pein, knowing he was getting under his skin and that amused him.

"I don't like their names." Sasori said simply and Pein practically deflated into the seat across from the boy, sighing. Sasori slipped the fourth resume out from underneath Pein's hand and looked at the name. "I mean, come on. Gai? Who just names their kid that?" Sasori tossed the paper out and reached for another one, but Pein pulled them away.

"Okay, enough." He said, glaring for a second, before relaxing his face. He slowly laid the last three, the top three, applications out before Sasori. "One of these people are going to be hired, whether you like it or not, Sasori." From Sasori's face, he obviously didn't like that. "So you just tell me which one draws you in the most." Pein sat back and watched Sasori who was looking at the papers. Sasori wanted to grab the one on the farthest right. That was the one he wanted the most, but…something about that annoyed him. He grabbed it and looked at the name. Sakura Haruno. Sasori threw it out, then grabbed the one that was in the middle.

"This one." Sasori tried to get out the desk chair, but Pein made a loud noise that froze him.

"No, you," Pein slid his phone, that was for business calls only, over to Sasori, who slowly lowered himself back into the chair. "Have to make the call, so you can't hold anything against me." Sasori smirked slyly and looked down at the application he was holding. Sai Danzo. His eyes scanned the paper until he found the guys' number. Slowly, he picked up the phone and dialed the number, holding it up to his ear. It rang three times, before someone picked up.

"Hello?" A male voice answered. Sasori opened his mouth and began speaking words he wasn't supposed to be saying.

"Hello, this is Sasori Suna from the Restaurant Akatsuki. I was calling to let you know that you didn't get the interview," Pein's face fell. "And that maybe you should start lying about your qualifications, if you already haven't, because they are complete shit. Sorry about the inconvenience, goodbye." Sasori dropped the phone back on it's receiver, reached over and grabbed the first application out the trash can and set it on the desk. This time, he stood up with purpose, not giving Pein the chance to stop him. "I want her." He strode out the office, opening and closing the door behind him. Pein sighed and grabbed the resume Sasori indicated. Sakura Haruno, hm. It wasn't the one Pein wanted to pick, but if that's what Sasori wanted…well, he was going to train her anyways. If she wasn't up to par, she'd be kicked out this store faster than Pein could find out why.

Sighing, he brought the phone towards him and scanned Sakura's application. She was in the top three for a reason, so he shouldn't be so upset about it, but he wasn't sure how well her and Sasori would get along. He had already called some of her old employers and they said she was a strong worker, dedicated, but she was very stubborn at times. Sasori did not like stubbornness, especially if someone wasn't doing something he wanted them to do and if Sakura made Sasori upset, which was hard to do, she'd be fired on the spot.

Once again, Pein sighed. He dialed the number and put the phone to his ear. _Rinnng_. He really hoped this would turn out for the better. _Riinnngg. _Maybe Sakura could help take the load Sasori had been carrying since he started working here. _Riinngg. _And if this girl was good and Pein was lucky-

"Hello?"

Sasori just might find love.

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Did you like it? I hope sooo, I'm hoping to capture Sasori as this sort of sarcastic, emotionless guy and get it on point. I already finished the next chapter and I'll get it up shortly, and I'm almost done with the second chapter, this is only the prologue, so maybe you're interested enough to read the next chapter and maybe even review ^.^


	2. The first day!

Okiee Dokiiee, here's the official first chapter of Madness! :D It's a short one, I just wanted to hash out basics and foundation of this story. Trying to get a feel of most people. I did this story a little different than my last one, I actually wrote out the complete story line to this, so I don't make any mistakes ^.^ Hopefully it'll be really good!

Thank you JigokuShoujosRevenge (I hope I spelled that write .) for reviewing! And also my guest idk who you are, thank you both thougghh

Anyways, read on ^.^

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Chapter One

Sakura carefully smoothed down her work outfit, staring at herself in the mirror. She couldn't believe she had actually gotten her dream job. Honestly, working at the notorious restaurant, Akatsuki, was like a fantasy. She couldn't wait to pull into the parking lot as a worker instead of a customer. It made her too happy.

The outfit wasn't that bad either. It was black slacks with a white blouse, and a black jacket that fitted her nicely. She was allowed to wear her hair down, but she deiced to tie it up in a ponytail so it didn't get in her face. She wore shoes that were no slip and black, plus her name tag was pinned to her jacket. Konan, one of the restaurant's managers, told her just to wear light make up, so she put on some mascara and lip gloss, leaving it at that.

Suddenly, her alarm clock started to buzz and she gasped, running over to it and turning it off. Sakura decided to leave her phone at home, so she just grabbed her keys and dashed out her room, running down the stairs. Pein, the actual owner of the store, gave her perfect advice. Early is on time, on time is late and late was get the fuck out. She was supposed to be in to work at five, she was leaving at four thirty. It took her fifteen minutes to get there, at least, so she would be early a whole fifteen minutes. That should make everyone happy and impressed.

Sakura jumped into her car, turning it on, then paused. She flipped down her visor and looked at herself in the mirror.

"You can do this Sakura," She spoke to herself. "I'll go in and do everything I can and I know they'll love me. I can do this." Giving herself a pep talk always helped. She slapped the visor back up, buckled her seatbelt, then pulled off from the curb. She drove as well as she could, she didn't want to get pulled over and be late her very first day. It also took a little longer than fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant, but she pulled into the parking lot at four fifty. Konan didn't say she had a parking space yet, so she pulled into an empty, random one and got out her car.

Sakura looked up at the building. It was large and made out of clean, red brick, with red awnings that had black trimming. All it's windows were tinted and the sign had Akatsuki written largely at the front, with a little cloud next to it. It was a neon sign and Sakura always loved looking at it.

Shaking her head, Sakura took a breath and walked up to the door, holding it open as a small family of three walked in. They thanked her and she smiled happily, then followed after them. They all stepped into the cool, soothing atmosphere of the Akatsuki and Sakura sighed heavily. It always made her calm when she walked in there.

There was one huge chandelier hanging over the middle of the restaurant, then smaller ones every few feet, with red shades. The tables were scattered everywhere, all covered by white cloths with candles on them, except one where children were at. Despite the smaller kids, it was always sort of quiet in there, adults and young adults chatting quietly with each other.

The small family in front of her walked over to the Hosts' booth and a very attractive man gave them a light smile. Sakura's breath caught. It was Sasori, only the most handsome man she had ever saw. She loved when she came here and he waited on her. He never smiled much and only asked mandatory questions, but he was, for some reason, very charming and made her swoon.

Sasori was tall, not very tall, but tall enough and slender, very polished and smart looking. His hair sat in a red mess on his head, weirdly since he seemed like the type of guy that would slick his hair back, but he always wore it like that. As far as she saw though. His eyes seemed to be a light brown and he had perfect pink lips. He wore the same outfit she did, but his included a tie and a red handkerchief in the jacket pocket. It showed that he was a manager of the store.

Sakura suddenly wish she had worn her hair down and put on a little more make up than she did. She knew there wasn't a policy on dating co workers since Pein and Konan were dating, but she wondered if Sasori would think it was weird. Shaking her head, she focused on the task at hand. Trying to be a good employee.

Sasori looked past the small family at Sakura, then turned around, looking into the dining area. His eyes scanned around for a moment before he spotted blue hair. Lifting his hand, he caught Konan's attention and she wrapped something up with the table she was at, then made her way over to him.

"Yeah?" She asked, bouncing on her heels slightly as she stopped in front of Sasori. For a girl, Konan was tall, but Sasori still loomed over her slightly.

"The new girl is here, would you mind showing this family to their table and waiting on them?" He questioned her politely and Konan nodded, smiling happily at the family.

"Come on guys, I'll show you to your table." Sakura watched Konan walked off with the family at her heels. That seemed easy enough, nothing too strict. Suddenly, Sasori was standing in front of her and she looked up at him, blinking slowly.

"Hello," He gave her a once over, then held out his hand. Sakura figured he was trying to see if any part of her uniform was out of order, but she couldn't help the small blush that rose to her cheeks. "I'm Sasori Suna, the Head Manager here."

"I'm Sakura Haruno," She smiled charmingly and shook his hand. "But you probably already know that." Sasori gave a slight nod.

"I do." He shook his sleeve so it fell back, then checked his watch, raising his eyebrows slightly. "You're early, so you can come to the back and I'll show you how you clock in and out for when your shift starts and ends. Then I'll show you around. Follow me." Sakura nodded some, then started after Sasori as he turned and walk away. At first she was gonna tell him he didn't need to show her around, she had been there so much, but then again. She had never been in the back like he had. There was probably so much that she had never seen.

Expertly Sasori weaved around the tables and Sakura hurriedly followed behind him. He went straight back to the doors the Waiters and Waitress' usually came out of, pushing them open carefully. Sakura was instantly hit with the smell of delicious food, which almost made her start drooling but she held it back.

"Woo!" A loud voice exclaimed and a fire blazed over by the stove. Sakura stopped walking, her eyes widened as she watched a tall, muscular guy laugh hard as he shook the pan the fire was blazing in. An attractive blonde looked over his shoulder while he cooked vegetables on a shiny topped grill, grinning.

"Burning it down, Hidan, yeah?" He asked and the other male set the pan down as the fire calmed and eventually went out. The Hidan guy turned around and put his hands behind his head, smiling.

"You know it," His light purple eyes fell on Sakura almost immediately and he blinked curiously at her, then raised an eyebrow. "Pink hair, huh?" He asked and Sakura blushed.

"You the new girl?" The blonde guy asked, leaning over the grill. An even more attractive guy with black hair dropped two steaks on the grill and looked over at Sakura. She met his eyes, smiling kindly, then her smile dropped as she realized who he was.

"Oh, Itachi." She said quietly and he lifted his chin some, eyes looking weary. He was giving her that look? Honestly, if anyone had to be nervous, it shoulder be her. But Itachi had always been nice to her. He even tried to warn her years ago about the choices she was making, but she never did want to listen to anyone except herself back then. She wasn't sure if she had changed that much.

"Hello Sakura," He greeted her. The blonde guy took off his gloves and walked over to her, keeping an eye on Itachi.

"You guys know each other?" He asked and out of nowhere Sasori appeared by Sakura's side, a bored look on his face as he looked at the people he worked with.

"Will you idiots stop talking to her, she didn't show up early just to clock in late." He said blandly and Sakura gasped, turning around and facing Sasori. She felt her cheeks heat up, she couldn't believe she had gotten stuck watching them when she should have been following Sasori so she could clock in. "Don't worry, you still have two minutes, come on." He jerked his head behind him and Sakura sighed heavily, walking after Sasori and the blonde guy followed with them. He wasn't wearing a kitchen uniform, but the same one as her and Sasori, except he didn't have a jacket on and the sleeves were rolled up. That was odd.

"So, you are the new girl? Itachi said your name was Sakura?" He asked, smiling and Sakura smiled back lightly, opening her mouth to answer him, but Sasori cut her off.

"Deidara don't you have tables to wait on?" He asked the blonde, who blushed and narrowed his eyes at the red head. Tables to wait on? He was just making food.

"Yeah, yeah," Deidara, she figured his name was, turned around and walked away. Sakura noticed a red handkerchief in his back pocket and she raised her eyebrows. He was a manager too.

"That was Deidara, Assistant Manager and you already know Konan and Pein." Sakura nodded as Sasori opened a door room. "I'll introduce you to everyone else afterwards, but this is the crew room. You come in here to eat on your breaks and wait before your shift starts. You can clock in over here." He led her to a little machine that had a keypad and a 'clock in' and 'clock out' button. "Your number is ten, you just press clock in, then your number and it'll automatically punch you in." He explained simply and she did so, hearing two beeps and a little green light pop up.

"That's it?" Sakura asked, looking back at Sasori who nodded.

"That's it. I'll introduce you to everyone now, come on." He walked back towards the door and held it open for her as she walked out, making her smile. He was such a gentleman. Sakura paused so he could walk in front of her as he led her back into the kitchen. "Alright, guys." Sasori lifted the level of his voice slightly, catching everyone's attention. There were only four people back there, Hidan, Itachi and two other people she didn't know. "This is our new employee, Sakura Haruno. Be nice." Sasori's eyes seemed to linger on Hidan who barked a laugh.

"Don't act like I can't tell you're staring directly at me." Hidan grinned at Sakura and she gave a smile back, waving her hand.

"Hi guys." One of the guys she didn't know the name of, and who was also wearing an orange mask, ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her.

"Sakura, huh? I'm Tobi, you're really pretty." He said happily and Sakura's smile got bigger.

"Thank you, nice to meet you Tobi."

"Enough of you, Tobi, she needs to meet the real face of Akatsuki." Hidan pushed Tobi out of the way and winked at Sakura. "How you doing beautiful?" A heavy blush covered Sakura's cheeks and Itachi rolled his eyes from the background.

"Hidan your shrimp is burning." The other guy Sakura didn't know mumbled quietly and Hidan gasped, spinning around and running to the stove. Everyone laughed, except Sasori, who just shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

After a little more conversation with the kitchen crew, Sasori showed Sakura around the rest of the restaurant, taking her to the back, back of the place where Pein's office was and Kakuzu's, the Financial Head, office was. There wasn't much there. He also showed her the stock room, bathroom and the freezer. Afterwards, he brought her to the Crew Room and closed the door behind them, walking towards a file cabinet.

"Alright, so you'll start out as a bus girl and…" Sakura suddenly toned out everything Sasori was saying as she gave the back of his head a weird look. Bus girl? What did she look like, a rookie? No, she had been working as a Waitress since she got her first job at sixteen.

"Um," She held up her finger and cut him off, hoping she wouldn't sound too rude. Sasori looked over his shoulder at her, raising an eyebrow. In his hand he held a thin packet that probably had the rules of a bus girl in it. "I put on my application that I wanted to be a Waitress." She clarified and Sasori turned to face her from across the room.

"Yes, I know." He nodded slowly. Sakura looked at Sasori for a long time, before chewing her lip. She didn't want to upset him, but she really didn't want to be a bus girl. Not that she wouldn't help out with that stuff, but she just wanted to be a Waitress.

"I um…don't want to be a bus girl." She mumbled quietly and Sasori tilted his head at her, as if she had just said the craziest thing in the world. She might of just had.

"But-"

"I'm not trying to go against you," Sakura added in really quickly before he said anything. "But I've been Waitressing for so long and that's the position I applied for when I put in my application, not bus girl. That's what I figured I got hired for." She clamped her teeth down on her bottom lip as Sasori knitted his eyebrows at her.

"You might have been a Waitress very well at other places, yet I'm not sure you're up to my Waitressing standards." Sasori told her simply and her eyebrows lifted. She almost laughed at him.

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I could meet any of your standards." Sakura said to him confidently, pursing her lips. Sasori tucked the papers he held, under his arm.

"I highly doubt it, I'm a very…uptight person." He explained and she crossed her arms.

"Well, most people can't admit that." She shrugged her shoulders, smiling some. Sasori's eyes narrowed some and he opened his mouth, then closed it quickly. She knew she had gotten under his skin, from the way he took a breath to calm himself.

"Alright," He closed his eyes and turned back towards the file cabinet, putting the packet he had back and grabbing a new one. "I'll let you Waitress for today," He walked over to her and handed her a thicker packet. It had 'Waiter/Waitress' boldly printed across it. "And if you mess up, even one little mistake, then you'll be demoted instantly." Sakura blinked nervously at his fixed, serious gaze. "But if you are good, my good, then you'll be a Waitress until further notice. Also, that doesn't mean that you work hard today and not tomorrow, this goes for as long as you can prove you can handle yourself without me watching over you, understand?" She kind of wanted to grin in happiness and hug him, but she decided to hold back her excitement and act professional.

"I understand." Sasori gave her a long look, before handing over the packet.

"Once you finish reading this, get to work. You're not allowed to ask me any questions for your first hour." Sakura's eyebrows raised in surprise and Sasori's lips twitched like he found her look amusing. He probably did. "I never said I was going to make it easy. You may begin." He nodded, then walked past her and out the room, closing the door behind him. Sakura looked down at the packet she held and took a breath. You had to work for what you really wanted and she was going to work.

"How's your little trainee?" Pein asked, walking up to Sasori who was watching said trainee smile and take a tables order. He dragged his eyes from her and looked at his boss, shrugging his shoulders.

"She's fine." He answered shortly and Pein smiled, putting his hand on Sasori's shoulder.

"Which means she's doing better than expected." Pein looked over at Sakura who had said something that made the couple she waited on laugh. "How do you like her?" He wondered, looking back to his friend.

"She refused to be a bus girl and argued with me on being a Waitress, I told her I'd demote her if she made a mistake." Sasori explained to Pein, who raised an eyebrow.

"That didn't answer my question." He said.

Sasori's nose scrunched up as he stared at the pinkette, who was now moving around the tables, asking her area of tables if they needed anything from her, then she made her way to the kitchen. He watched her walk into the back, then focused on Pein. "She's a good worker." He told Pein simply. Pein rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, raising both of his eyebrows at the red head.

"That's it?" He tried to clarify, but Sasori ignored him as he watched a couple walk into the restaurant. Sasori walked away from Pein who sighed.

"Hello welcome to the Akatsuki," Sasori greeted manually, smiling lightly. "Do you have reservations?" He asked and the male nodded, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, under Nara." The girl he was with gasped suddenly and giggled.

"Looks, there's Sakura." She ran off before either of the men could say anything. The boyfriend held out his hand, then dropped it, looking bored.

"No point in calling out to her when she's already got her mind set." He shook his head. Sasori watched the blonde female raced over to his pink headed employee, then he looked back to the man.

"Shikamaru?" He asked, looking at the reservations made for two under that name. The guy nodded, sticking his hands in his pocket. "Okay, should we wait for her to get back or…" Sasori trailed off as they both looked back to the blonde female who was walking behind Sakura. Sakura carried about five empty plates in her hand and seemed to not know the girl was behind her, until the blonde screamed 'boo!' loudly.

"Oh God.." Shikamaru closed his eyes and Sasori's face fell as he watched Sakura scream in fear and jump, dropping all the plates she carried. She tried to save one of them, but ended up tripping over herself and crashing down to the floor as well. It got silent in the restaurant and Sasori slowly closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'll be right back." He said to Shikamaru, then made his way over to Sakura who was bright red in the face. The blonde had her hands over her mouth and her eyes were really wide, plus the entire restaurant was staring at Sakura as she sat on the floor in embarrassment. Sakura looked up at Sasori when he stopped next to her. He knelt down next to her, picking up a piece of the broken plates and looking at her, disappointment and a hint of amusement shining in his eyes. "Clean this mess up please and go back to the crew room to read the bus girl manual." Her large green eyes filled with tears, but she nodded obediently and looked down at her feet.

Sasori stood to his feet and looked at the blonde girl who was helping Sakura up to her feet. Konan walked over, looking confused. "What happened?" She asked worriedly.

"Just a small mistake, everyone's fine." Sasori answered quickly, then he looked at the blonde girl and Shikamaru, who had walked over there. Out the corner of his eye he saw Sakura wipe her face and hurry off into the back. "I can show you two to your table." He offered politely. The female was watching Sakura with a worried face, but Shikamaru grabbed her hand and pulled her after Sasori. Konan followed Sakura's path to the back and she found the younger girl standing at the threshold of the storage closet, sniffling quietly.

"Sakura," She put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "It's alright, everyone makes mistakes." Sakura rubbed her face roughly and took a rattling breath, clearing her throat.

"I know, but he just made me feel so…" She bit her lip, trailing off.

"Stupid?" Konan guessed, grabbing the broom and dust pan from the closet. "Yeah, Sasori has a way of making people feel like that. Some personality disorder, I think." Despite herself, Sakura giggled quietly and Konan smiled fondly. She had liked this girl from the moment Sakura came in for her interview. She was a special kind. "You can just go do whatever you need to do and I'll go clean up this mess."

Sakura turned around and looked at Konan with her red and irritated face. "No, you don't need to do that, besides Sasori will probably get mad if I don't clean it up." She reached for the supplies, but Konan moved it out of her reach.

"Don't worry about him." Konan winked, then turned and walked away. Sakura stared after her for a moment, before smiling slightly and grabbing her own arm. She mine as well go and read the bus girl packet.

Konan walked out to the dining room, her eyes scanning for the infamous red head. He was actually walking in her direction as she came out the back.

"Where's Sakura?" Sasori asked and Konan smacked his arm roughly. He stumbled some, giving her an 'you're crazy' look.

"You shouldn't speak to people the way you spoke to her, Sasori Suna, you should know better. She's only a little kid." She said in an angry voice and Sasori lost his crazy look, giving Konan a bored one.

"She's not a little kid, she's twenty two years old. Eighteen is a little kid, I might consider nineteen to be, but twenty two isn't. When I was her age, I didn't make small mistakes such as that." Sasori retorted, rubbing his arm gently.

"Just because you're a perfectionist, doesn't mean everyone else is." Konan said calmly even though her blood was boiling. All she could see was poor Sakura's tearful face. Sasori's cheeks turned pink. "Let's remember that you, Sasori, have once made a mistake." He adverted his eyes as Konan walked past him to go and clean up the mess. Sasori looked up just in time to see Deidara standing there.

"She sure did chew you out." The blonde said and Sasori glared at him, walking through the doors to get into the kitchen. Deidara shrugged his shoulders and went to work. Sasori walked all the way to the crew room, finding Sakura sitting at the table and reading the bus girl packet. At least she followed one of his directions. She looked up when he walked in, then blushed looking back down.

"Hello." Sasori mumbled quietly, closing the door. Sakura started fidgeting with the paper on the packet, not meeting Sasori's eyes.

"Hi." She whispered back and Sasori sighed some, walking over to the table.

"I apologize for making you feel bad." He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Sakura peered up at him, but didn't lift her head. She noticed his cheeks were visibly pink and he wasn't looking at her. A small smile graced her lips. Even if he didn't mean the apology, something about him made it seem like this wasn't normal for him. The whole being nice and apologizing thing.

"It's okay." She flipped the page in the packet. "As soon as I finish this, I'll get to work." She let him know and as if he had never seemed embarrassed, Sasori nodded.

"Okay, thank you." He turned around and walked out the crew room. Sakura breathed a laugh, putting her face in her hand and staring at the wall. Yeah, Sasori was a huge jerk, but everyone else was really nice and she was going to like it here. She was sure of it.

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Did you likeey it? I did, I read and re read it a thousand times, so I might punch myself if I find any mistakes later on haha, probably not because that'll hurt but anyways!

Don't you think Sasori is mean? I hope, because that's how I want him to be haha he's supposed to be this mean, sadistic guy, like I said last chapter. Grr I'm excited to write thiisss woooo! Haha

Well, review, favorite, follow and just keep reading! ^.^


	3. The night shift

Yay new chapter! I really like this chapter, I don't know why but I do. Haha anyways, I have nothing to really say right now .

So read on ^.^

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The Night Shift

Only a couple days after Sakura's 'mistake', Pein ended up promoting her back up to Waitress. He couldn't stand seeing her come into work looking so determined to fix her mistake and only have to wipe down tables and wash dishes. The whole Waiter and Waitress staff spilt up that work and he hated watching her do it all by herself. So, despite Sasori, he told her she could go back to Waitressing, which made her very happy.

Sasori still kept a fixed eye on her when she worked, but he found nothing to complain about. He hated to admit it but she was Waitressing to his standards, which impressed and annoyed him. But he didn't know why he had the mixed emotions. He should be happy that she was doing such a good job, but he wasn't.

Almost a whole two weeks past and Sakura was feeling quite happy with where she was. She loved her job at the Akatsuki, everyone was fun and friendly and she had lots of fun while she worked. In fact, she had so much fun, she barley even realized she was working at all. She had the weekend off, but had to go into work at five on Monday, which didn't bother her. Early November weather was finally setting in and she loved the fall.

Sakura had stayed up late last night going out with Ino and Shikamaru to the bar, so she woke up around three in the afternoon, the sun shining rather brightly through her curtains. She tried not to drink much, so she didn't have a headache, but that failed and her skull throbbed as she got out of bed slowly. Goosebumps found their way onto her uncovered thighs and forearms, making her shiver at the coolness of her room. Dragging her feet across the squishy carpet, she made her way to her shower.

Sakura stayed in there for a whole forty five minutes, before getting out and began getting ready for work. She put on her under clothes, then pulled on her pants. After that, she blow dried her hair, leaving it down. She added some light make up, then finished getting dressed, checking her alarm clock to see the time. It was three fifty five and she smiled happily, she had a little less than an hour to get some food and medicine.

She walked over to her phone and grabbed it, unplugging it from the charger. The screen lit up and she looked down at it and froze. The clock on her phone read four fifty six and she tilted her head in confusion. Sakura looked over at her alarm clock, then back to her phone, noticing the differences in the time. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand. The time changed an hour last night and she forgot to set her alarm clock to the right time. She practically threw her phone, snatched up her car keys and dashed downstairs.

Sakura couldn't believe she had actually done that. Sasori was going to be so mad if she was late. She started her car, then pulled out from the curb, racing down the street. She might have ignored a few stop signs and carelessly drove, but she valued her job very much. Without knowing the time, she pulled up into the Akatsuki parking lot, shut her car off and jumped out of it, running up to the front doors only to see Sasori standing there. Trying to catch her breath, she stopped in front of him.

"I'm so sorry!" She gasped out loudly, staring at him worriedly. His face was blank. "The time change was-"

"Was irrelevant." Sasori cut her off in a calm, deep voice and she felt her heart drop into her empty stomach. "Maybe if you hadn't been having so much fun while working, you would have noticed the sign I posted about the time change." If possible, she was sure her stomach had dropped somewhere too. She opened her mouth to try and say something that would hopefully get her out of trouble, but Sasori kept talking. "Being on time to anything is a necessity and if you can't be here on time, then you can not work here." Sakura's jaw dropped and against her will, her eyes started to water. "You may go home." Sasori gave her one last look, before spinning around and walking into the restaurant. A lone, reluctant tear slipped down Sakura's cheek and she sniffed quietly, wiping it away.

Sakura turned around as well and headed to her car, taking long deep breaths of the crisp air. She opened her car door and got in, starting it back up and buckling her seatbelt slowly. For a moment, she just sat there and stared at the restaurant before her, wondering if she had just been fired. Sakura blinked rapidly as she thought of being fired from her favorite job, then she pulled out the parking lot and drove home.

"Um…where's Sakura?" Pein asked, looking around the dining room for his new pink headed employee. Konan, who was standing next to him, shrugged her shoulders, then pointed at the red head across the room.

"Better ask Sasori." She said, walking away to do her job. Pein watched her walk away, smiling fondly at his girlfriend, before he made his way over to Sasori who was standing at the Host booth.

"Hey, what happened to Sakura? She was supposed to be here at five and it's almost six." He wondered curiously and Sasori didn't look at his boss, instead he ignored him. Pein watched Sasori for a moment before nudging him. "Hey,"

"She's at home." He said shortly and Pein raised an eyebrow.

"Is she sick?"

"No."

"Is she…hurt?"

"No." Pein gave Sasori a confused look, trying to figure out why Sasori was being so short with him. He wasn't usually like this unless he…oh.

"Whatever happened is going to make me mad at you, isn't it?" Pein questioned, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head.

"Yes." Sasori grumbled and without looking up, Pein asked:

"What happened, Sasori?" For a moment, Sasori didn't say anything, then he tapped his fingers against the Host booth a couple times, praying for someone to walk in. But today wasn't a very busy day.

"I sent her home." He finally said.

"Why?" Pein asked, still hanging his head with his eyes closed.

"Because she was late." Sasori knew this wasn't going to turn out well. He was rarely in trouble with Pein, but he knew how his boss operated. Completely opposite of him. A loud sigh escaped Pein's lips and he finally looked up at Sasori, looking disappointed. He put the tips of all his fingers together.

"I don't know…" He rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you have against Sakura, Sasori, but you are too hard on her. She is a great worker and you need to realize that you are not perfection with everyone flawed beneath you. And also," Sasori finally looked at his boss, face void of all emotion. "You do not, I repeat, _do. Not. _Have any authority to send any of _my_ employees home." Pein said firmly, then turned swiftly and walked away. Sasori stared after him, his face slightly red. He was embarrassed to get chewed out by Pein, who rarely ever got upset with him. He was just happy no one witnessed it.

Pein stressfully rubbed his temples as he walked into the back, running straight into Konan. She gasped and lifted the plates she was carrying high up in the air so they didn't get squished between them. He grabbed her waist to steady her, then looked down at her.

"You alright?" He asked and Konan nodded, stepping back from her boyfriend, smiling.

"Yeah," Seemingly, as soon as her smile appeared, it disappeared and she gave him an odd look. "What's wrong?" She asked and Pein's mouth twitched into a light smile. Maybe that's why he loved Konan so much. He could be worrying all about her, without a hint or thought about his problems and she could immediately tell something was wrong. Pein used to be stone faced and quiet like Sasori, until Konan came along and cracked him open with her hard headed personality. He's been hooked ever since.

"Sasori sent Sakura home, because she was late." Pein sighed, giving Konan a look that screamed 'can you believe him?' Konan rolled her eyes, signaling she could believe him.

"I'm not surprised, I think he's on her back so much because he doesn't want her to make us look bad." She explained. "But she's doing the complete opposite, Sakura's making us look good and she's a great employee." Pein nodded in agreement.

"I know, that's what I told him. But we all know how Sasori is, you gotta crack his head open and stuff something in there for him to understand it." Konan looked at Pein sadly, knowing how stressful it was dealing with Sasori lately.

"Well, I hope it gets better baby," She leaned up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek softly. "I got to get this food out."

"I got to go call Sakura," Pein gently stroked Konan's hair softly and she smiled at him, then walked off out the doors. He watched her, before walking towards his office. Once he reached it, he walked around his desk and dropped down in his chair, pulling out the files on his employees. Pein found Sakura's and looked up her number. Right before he picked up his phone, it started ringing. Rolling his eyes, he answered. "Hello, this is Akatsuki, you're speaking to Pein, may I help you?" He asked automatically, putting his face in his hand.

"Um…Pein." A female voice came across. "It's Sakura." Pein's head shot up.

"Oh Sakura, I was just about to call you." It was silent on the line for a moment and he was about to speak again, but she stared talking.

"Oh, well…whenever you guys want me to turn in my uniform, I'll bring it to you." She told him solemnly and Pein smiled softly, shaking his head. He really liked Sakura.

"Sakura, you're not fired." He said to her and she gasped from the other line.

"Oh my God! Really?" She screamed and Pein raised his eyebrows. He heard her clear her throat. "I mean, oh really?" He chuckled quietly.

"Yes, really. Just be here on time tomorrow, okay?" She sighed loudly and agreed, then Pein added on. "Oh and don't worry about Sasori okay? You might already know this, but he's really uptight about a lot of things. I'm not sure what his problem is with you, I'm trying to figure it out. But don't worry about that, I'm sure he'll call you and apologize, because he does feel bad for what he did. I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura."

Sakura hung up the phone and jumped off her couch, screaming and bouncing around her living room. She was happy. So, so, so, so happy! When she saw that look in Sasori's eyes, she was sure she was never going to work there again, maybe not even show her face around there, but she was glad Pein called her and cleared everything up. Well, technically, she called him, but that wasn't the point. She didn't lose her job!

Still burning from excitement, and kind of happy she didn't even have to come in and finish her shift, she skipped into her kitchen and peeked into her pantry. She decided to award herself with some chocolate chip cookies. Moving around her small kitchen, she hummed quietly to herself. She didn't spend a lot of time with anyone, family or friends. Ever since Ino had moved in with Shikamaru and they had gotten extra serious, her best friend rarely visited her anymore. Not that Sakura minded, she was happy for her friend, though she was slightly jealous. Sakura hadn't had a boyfriend since she dated this guy named Kiba, but he was really obsessed with dogs and they made her sneeze, so she left him.

She had been asked out since then, but none of those guys interested her. Sakura wasn't picky, she just couldn't bring herself to be with someone else romantic. Part of her felt like breaking up with Kiba over dogs was an excuse, in fact he offered that suggestion when she broke up with him, but she shrugged that off. For that moment, but ever since then, it hadn't left her mind. She couldn't understand why she couldn't give herself over to someone. Not that she minded having this cute little house to herself. Her parents paid for it, so she wasn't very worried about much, but it would have been awfully nice to have someone sleeping in her King size bed with her.

Sakura's thoughts were suddenly cut off when she heard her phone ringing from the other room. Without noticing, she had been leaning against the counter after putting the cookies in the stove, staring at the wall in thought. She blinked her slightly dry eyes, then pushed off the counter, walking quickly to her cell phone that laid on the couch. She checked the caller I.D, not recognizing the number, but answering it anyways. It could be some hot guy or a rapist, she never knew.

"Hello?" Sakura answered in a cheerful voice.

"Hello, is this Sakura?" A voice asked professionally and she raised an eyebrow. Nope, couldn't be a rapist, they would just breathe heavily on the phone. More than likely not a hot guy either.

"Uh, yeah, this is her…who's this?" She questioned over the phone, getting comfortable on the back of the couch, crossing one leg over the other.

"It's Sasori." The voice answered and Sakura gasped, her body jerking, making the couch go off balance. It tipped backwards, forwards for her and she and the couch crashed to the ground, making her do a somersault and lose her phone. She squeaked as she landed on her butt, her hair falling haphazardly over her face. For a moment, she sat there, astonished, then she scrambled around, finding her phone in the kitchen. It was a hot guy!

"Oh!" She said loudly, holding the phone up to her ear and sitting on her knees. "Sorry, dropped my phone, because…because my couch tipped over." Sakura muttered quietly.

"Uh, okay…" She slapped her forehead. Why couldn't she had said something funny or cute, not that her couch tipped over. Even though it did. Sasori probably thought she was a weirdo. "Well, I was just calling you to apologize about what I said earlier. I overreacted." He said, nearly sounding like a robot. Okay, Sakura was no expert on Sasori, in fact, she highly doubted anyone knew what was wrong with him, but she knew this was fake. Yeah, he was apologizing, but it wasn't him and it wasn't what he wanted to do. Shrugging it off though, Sakura smiled slightly.

"No, I'm sorry, I should of paid more attention while I was at work." She explained in a soft voice. There was a sigh.

"Yes, you should have," That made her smile widen. "But it's fine now." There was a pause and she waited for him to speak again, to initiate the hang up, because she really didn't want to. "Um, anyways, just be here tomorrow. On time."

Sakura giggled quietly. "Of course, thank you for calling." She replied and she could practically see him nodding his head.

"You're welcome. Goodbye."

"Bye, bye." She disconnected the call and pursed her lips, just so she wasn't cheesing like an idiot. Yeah, maybe he had been fake apologizing, like he had once before, but she didn't care. Sasori Suna had called her phone and-

"OH MY GOD, MY COOKIES!" Sakura screeched running into the kitchen when she smelled burning.

"She's weird." Sasori said to Pein after he got off the phone. His boss rolled his eyes, giving his friend a look that screamed 'you've got to be kidding me'.

"And you're not?" He asked sarcastically, but Sasori just looked back with a blank stare, obviously thinking that he wasn't. Pein sighed and leaned back in his chair. "How is she weird?" He wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Because when I called her, she like freaked out, dropped her phone and tipped over her couch." Sasori explained shortly and Pein snorted in laugher. He could barley imagine petite little Sakura tipping over a couch and if did it was pretty comical. Besides, he was pretty sure she didn't have that much strength in her.

"She tipped over her couch?" Pein smiled lightly at Sasori who shrugged, crossing his arms.

"That's what she told me." He said defiantly and Pein shook his head, then interlocked his fingers. He set his elbows on his desk, put his chin on his knuckles and gave Sasori a teasing look.

"Or maybe she was so flustered you were calling her." He offered and one of Sasori's eyebrows quirked at his boss. She got flustered? That doesn't make any sense, she was with him nearly everyday, how could she get flustered?

"That makes zero sense." Sasori shook his head. Pein sighed. Of course he would have to explain the simplest things to Sasori. He had known him going on five years now and he was positive Sasori had never had any type of romantic involvement. Though, one time, Pein asked Sasori if he was still a virgin and Sasori gave him such an incredulous look and told him 'Of course I'm not, I just don't waste my time with relationships.' Pein just figured he might have had one night stands or something, but looking at Sasori, he couldn't imagine that.

"Maybe she…finds you attractive." Pein let on. He didn't know if Sakura liked Sasori, but he saw the way she looked at him. Most girls found him attractive.

"Why?" Sasori questioned blandly and Pein snickered softly.

"Because you're a good looking guy," He leaned back in his chair and gave Sasori a friendly smile, which he didn't return. "Do you find her attractive?" He asked.

"I don't think about those kind of things." Sasori answered smoothly.

"Well, think about it now." Pein said. Sasori's lips pursed, but he, nonetheless, looked towards the ceiling in thought. Even though Pein loved Konan with every part of him, Sakura was a very pretty girl and if Sasori didn't agree, then there had to be something wrong with him. The red head closed his eyes and sighed.

"No." He shook his head and Pein's jaw dropped, but he quickly closed it. Yeah, there was something wrong with him.

"Really?"

"She's too happy." Sasori shrugged his shoulders, blinking slowly at Pein who had his eyebrows knitted.

"She's too happy?"

"Yes."

"So, your ideal girl is someone who's depressed?"

"Supposedly." Pein smacked himself in the forehead, then reached for the nearest pen and began tapping it on the desk. Sasori was something else. How could he be so frustratingly stubborn? He couldn't just admit that he found Sakura attractive, was that too hard? Even on the simplest things, he couldn't let anyone in.

"Just…go back to work." Pein waved his hand and Sasori shrugged, turning around and walking towards the door. "Thank you for calling her, by the way." He added before Sasori walked out.

"I think she knew I didn't really mean it." He countered softly.

"Probably the first person who could see through you," Pein said, rubbing his face in stress. Sasori always made him feel this way.

"Other than you, of course."

"Of course."

"Sakura, I need to ask you something." Sasori walked up to Sakura as she stood contently at the Hostess Booth. It was eleven on a Tuesday night, not many people were coming in, so she looked rather bored, but happy. Like she always was. It had been almost two weeks since she had been sent home that day and November had set in deep, a chill filling the crisp air outside. The leaves on the trees were beginning to change colors and brightened up their area.

"Yeah?" Sakura asked, smiling at Sasori as he approached her.

"I believe you've been doing a good job," He complimented and Sakura was caught off guard. Sasori had never complimented her. Ever. So this was kind of shocking. "So, I would like if you helped me close up the store tonight." Sakura's eyebrows rose and she grinned.

"Really?" Closing up the store meant Sasori trusted her to do a lot of things without him helping. She knew Deidara and Konan usually helped close up the store with him. Which meant cleaning a lot of the restaurant, dishes the kitchen crew didn't finish, sweeping the dining room, stocking everything. It was work for two and Sasori did it every night, except the rare nights he didn't work.

"Yes, really." Sasori nodded, the usual no emotion look on his face and Sakura's grin faded a little. She had to be calm and collected and show him she was serious and professional about this. Though she was excited to spend some more time with him.

"Yeah, I'd love to." She agreed and the tiniest, pleasant smile turned Sasori's lips up.

"Okay, thank you." He turned around and walked towards the back. Sakura waited until he was through the doors, before she squealed quietly and clapped her hands together. Her and Sasori alone in this whole store for nearly an hour. Yeah, he was jerk sometimes and was really sarcastic, but she wondered if he'd be nicer if it was just him and her. She hoped. She wanted to get to know him better.

"Have a great night," Sakura called to a couple who was leaving and they smiled at her as they walked out. There weren't anymore reservations to be filled and only a few people lingered around in the Akatsuki, but around eleven forty, the whole place was empty. Pein and Konan had already left and so had Itachi and Kisame. At midnight, Deidara, Tobi, Hidan and Kakuzu all left, biding them goodbyes, then Sakura met up with Sasori in the back. He was leaning over one of the counters, reading a piece of paper and he had glasses on. She raised an eyebrow, she had never seen him wear glasses before, but he looked very attractive with them.

"What's that?" She asked as the doors swung closed behind her. Sasori kept his eyes on the paper, his eyebrows knitted in concentration.

"End of the day reports," He sighed and stood straight, taking the glasses off and putting them in his pocket. Sakura had to bite her lip to hold back another squeal, he was so damn hot. Sasori looked at her, his amber eyes burning into hers, then he sighed again. "Well, I'm gonna go start locking up. You can go and sweep the Dining room, okay?" He asked and she nodded reverently.

"Okay," Sasori pulled a set of keys out his pocket and walked past her, leaving through the swinging doors. Sakura sighed dreamily, then started towards the storage closet so she could get the broom and dust pan. It was a pain to sweep the whole dining room, but she figured it wouldn't take her that long. Despite being able to be around Sasori, Sakura had to admit she was a little fatigued. She had gotten here at four and had to say past midnight, it was a long shift. Though she was sure cleaning up wasn't going to take forever.

However, Sakura was wrong. Very wrong. After she was done sweeping the Dining room, Sasori had her take all the table cloths to the back where they would get washed in the washing machine, then she had to throw away all the burned out candles, clean the candle holders, wipe down the tables, chairs and windows and once the cloths were washed and dried, she had to put them all back and replace all the candles. That took about an hour and a half. Sasori dealt with everything in the back, stocking, dishes, cleaning. It was almost two A.M now and Sakura was ready to collapse, but Sasori told her she had to put the silverware away in the kitchen before she left, while he cleaned the crew room. After that, she was allowed to go home.

With her eyes half lidded and mind completely void, Sakura sorted the knives, forks and spoons into their respected places. There were so many of them that Sakura was sure she'd ever get done. She let out a long breath as she heard the doors behind her swing open and close. She heard the scuff of footsteps and she sighed again.

"Sasori, I'm so tired." She whined loudly, rubbing her eye. "I don't think this is legal." She expected some sadistic, witty remark, but none came, which made her believe he was just as tired. Though, Sasori didn't seem like the type-

"What did you say?" Sasori's voice carried to her as he came out the back hallway, looking at her with a curious face. Sakura blinked at him. He just came out the hallway, but she had heard… She spun around to face the doors that led into the Dining room, but no one was there. For a moment, she just stared, then she shook her head. She was so tired that she was imagining things. Good God.

"Oh um," Sakura turned back to face Sasori. "Nothing really, I'm just tired." Sasori made his way over to her and looked down at the silverware she had been sorting. He pursed his lips, then met her eyes.

"You can go home." He offered and her eyes widened. "I can tell how tired you are and I don't want you to fall asleep while you drive and hurt someone. Or yourself." Gently, he took the fork she was holding out her hand. "I'll finish this up." Sakura was fairly sure that Sasori had never been honestly nice to her like he was now. She constantly thought his heart was made out of stone, but seeing him worry about her, it made her think otherwise.

"Are you sure? I mean,-"

"I'm sure," He cut her off, placing the fork he took from her into its place. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me." He waved her off and Sakura forced some sass out of her, putting her hand on her hip and giving Sasori a pointed look.

"Oh, but you can worry about me, huh?" She asked defiantly. Sasori smirked lightly.

"Go home and rest, Sakura. I'll see you tomorrow." There was a hint of amusement in his voice, besides it being firm, and she sighed heavily. She was too tired to fight him right now.

"Thank you." He nodded as she went to the crew room to grab her jacket and keys, clocking out, then she came back to the kitchen. "See you tomorrow." She bid her goodbye.

"Goodnight," Sasori said quietly.

"Night," She pushed through the doors and made her way out the restaurant, smiling lightly. It was nice to see a sweeter side of Sasori, it just showed that he wasn't all snide and wit, which was nice to know. An opaque cloud puffed in front of Sakura as she stepped into the crisp November air. She loved the changing leaves on the trees and the snow that seemed like it was going to fall soon, but she was never a big fan of the coldness. Shivering lightly, Sakura unlocked her car door and slid into the driver's seat, staring the engine. Immediately, she cranked up the heat and breathed into her hands, hoping to warm them up. She stared at the Akatsuki for a moment, thinking about Sasori, before she shifted the gears to reverse and backed out the parking lot.

Sasori ran his hand through his hair as he grabbed his black pea coat, pulling it on. He was in a slightly odd, good mood. Sometimes, when he did nice things for someone, he got this way. It wasn't something he did on a regular basis, but sending Sakura home made him feel like he wasn't such a bad person. He grabbed his gloves out his coat pocket and put them on, then grabbed his car keys and cell phone. Making sure the door to the Crew Room was locked, he left it and flicked off the lights in the kitchen. He also turned off the lights in the Dining room, leaving it pitch black as he walked through it. It didn't bother him though, he knew this place like it was his own home.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise, sounding like leg chairs screeching across the floor and before he knew it, he ran into something and crashed to the ground. He knew that if someone was there and the lights were on, they'd laugh at how red and hot his face got. Even though there was no one there, he was embarrassed at falling and angry as well. How the hell did he trip over a chair?

Pulling out his cell phone, he searched through his apps until he found a flashlight one, turning it one. He shone it on the chair he had tripped over and noticed how far it had pulled out from the table it was pushed under. Sasori gritted his teeth as he got up. Maybe Sakura had left the chair out, but then again, that was just stupid. It was in the middle of the aisle and she wasn't that clumsy to miss that. He fixed the chair and kept his flashlight on as he left the store, making sure the door was locked behind him.

Some of his anger faded as he rethought the whole situation. One minute he was walking, then the next he was on the ground. He pursed his lips, thinking back and remembered hearing the screech of the legs against the floor. Had someone purposefully pushed the chair our? But no one else was in there with him, so that made no sense. He pinched the bridge of his nose and got into his car, narrowing his eyes at his workplace. It was odd, but he wasn't going to dwell on it. He turned his car on and pulled out of the parking lot, his bed the only thing on his mind now.

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Did you likee it? Or hate it? I hope it's the former haha but review and favorite and yadda yadda yaa:D


	4. It's been a while

Hollaa! Finally I got this chapter upp! Its kind of boring to me, but hopefully you don't find it boring. It's probably because I read it like a thousand times. But who cares! Haha I'm writing another Sakura&Sasori story actually, then I'm also writing an original story for myself ^.^ So, it might take these chapters a couple of days to get out, but I hope it'll be worth the wait. Well, anyways!

Read on!

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It's been a while

"So, what are you going to do?" Deidara asked Sakura as they walked out to their cars. Both of their shifts had ended at seven and he decided to walk her to her car, which she figured was awfully nice of him. She liked Deidara, he was nice, funny and cute and he always seemed to be interested in everything she was doing. Sakura looked up at the dark sky, thinking.

"Nothing really, go home and stare at my walls." She joked lightly and he chuckled, then smiled at her.

"Wanna go bowling?" He asked her randomly and she looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. Bowling?

"With who?" She questioned and his smile widened some, his bright blue eyes sparkling with his usual air of mischief.

"Me," He answered simply. Sakura's cheeks turned red, but not from the chilling air around them. Was Deidara asking her out on a date? Cute, funny Deidara? She hadn't been asked out on a date in almost a month.

"Like a date?" She clarified and Deidara shrugged his shoulders, both of them stopping at her car. He shoved his hands in his pockets and watched her reaction with glittering eyes.

"Call it what you want." He told her. Sakura's big eyed, curious and confused look gave way to a bright smile, which made Deidara's smile grow as well too. He liked how Sakura's smile always seemed to light up her face and radiate off of her like some sort of light.

"Yeah, I'd love to." She poked his shoulder. "But you can't hate me when I bowl a perfect game." She teased and Deidara snorted.

"Yeah right, you're looking at the champion of the Men's Bowling tournament." He said haughtily and her eyebrows raised halfway up her forehead.

"Really?" She asked.

"No," He shook his head. "But you won't beat me." Sakura blew air past her lips, rolling her eyes and smiling playfully.

"We'll see." Deidara nodded.

"I guess we will," He stared at her for a moment and Sakura held his gaze. "I'll meet you up there, then?" There was only one bowling arena in their area, so he didn't have to specify.

"Yep, eight sound good?" She asked.

"Perfect, see you." He turned and lifted his hand as he walked to his car. Sakura grinned at his back, then got in her car, immediately grabbing up her phone and shooting a text to Ino.

_Remember Deidara? I'm going on a date with him:D!_

While Sakura let her car warm up, Ino had already sent back a text. Ino was always trying to dabble in Sakura's relationships, setting her up on blind dates and 'hooking her up' Mostly the guys were weird and creepy, but sometimes she was a pretty good matchmaker, except Sakura wasn't very trustworthy of people, so most of her relationships fell apart.

_OMG FINALLY, now I'm not the one doing all the work;) What's the update on Sasori though?_

Sakura snorted.

_He's Sasori._

Figuring she needed to hurry up to her house to get ready, Sakura finally pulled out her parking space and headed home, getting there quicker than usual. Maybe she was a little excited to be going on a date. Yeah, Deidara wasn't God-like hot like Sasori was, but he was really attractive. And he made her laugh, which was a big score on her scale. So, maybe she was really excited about this.

When she got into her house, her phone chimed with a text message, but not from Ino. From Deidara.

_Want me to pick you up? _

Sakura bit her lip in thought. She wasn't low on gas and she liked driving, but did she want him to? It make the date a little more intimate. If it even was a date. He said she could call it whatever she wanted, but what did he want to call it? Shaking her head, she looked back down to her phone.

_Only if you knock on my front door :p _

Feeling a little more giddy, Sakura dashed upstairs and stripped all her clothing, her phone chiming again. Deciding to check it before she got in the shower, she picked it up.

_I'll throw rocks at your window instead _(Smiley face)

Rolling her eyes, she set her phone down and jumped into the shower. She didn't want to take too long, so she just washed her hair and body as fast as she could, then got out, barley wrapping her towel around her body. When she came back into her room, she paused and took a breath. She needed to calm down and relax. She didn't want to be too excited about this date and Deidara just be all chill about everything. Her phone chimed again, with Deidara asking where she lived and she sent him her address, then started getting dressed.

She wore a matching set of under clothes and grabbed comfortable jeans. Before she put on a deep blue shirt that fitted her tightly, she went back to her bathroom so she could do her hair and makeup. Sakura dosed her locks in hairspray, making them hold her natural waves, then she pulled it up in a bun and began to do her make up. She just did light foundation and powder and amplified her lashes, with a bit of eyeliner on top of her eyelash line. Once she was done, she let her hair down and went back to her room, checking the time as she pulled on her shirt. It was almost eight. She grabbed her phone, a pair of socks and walked downstairs. Two minutes later, Deidara texted her saying he was there and she practically ran outside.

Sasori was standing at the hostess booth, absentmindedly playing with the paper in the reservation book. He should have been cleaning up or wiping down tables or something, but he really didn't feel like it. For once in his life, he really didn't feel like doing something. It was odd, but he kind of liked it. Which wasn't usual.

The bells on the door jingled and he looked up to see Deidara stalk in, looking casual in jeans and a t shirt. He had nice smelling cologne on and his hair actually looked combed today. Maybe he'd cut it soon.

"What're you doing here?" Sasori asked curiously and Deidara grinned as he walked up to him.

"I wanted to get a hot chocolate, we do have the best in town." Slowly, Sasori analyzed the situation. First, he had known Deidara for almost four years and never had he once drank hot chocolate, he was pretty sure the blonde didn't even like it. Second, Deidara was dressed nicely, smelled good and brushed his hair, actually attempting to look presentable, which only meant one thing.

"Who's the girl you're buying hot chocolate for?" Sasori asked, raising an eyebrow and Deidara grinned, obviously amused that Sasori had figured him out. It honestly wasn't that hard.

"Sakura." He answered simply.

"Our Sakura?" Sasori made sure, his eyebrows now knitted.

"Yep, we're going out on a date in like…twenty minutes." Deidara checked his watch. "And I need hot chocolate, please." He playfully dinged the silver bell on the hostess booth and Sasori almost ripped off his arm. He hated that damn noise.

"Alright," Turning around, Sasori walked towards the back. It was weird, he didn't think Sakura seemed like the type of girl who'd go out with Deidara. And more so, Deidara usually didn't go after girls like Sakura. He wasn't big on the relationship thing and it was obvious Sakura was. Sasori had noticed them flirting around a lot, but thought it was just child's play. Maybe Deidara really liked Sakura or something.

A weird feeling stirred in Sasori's stomach when he thought about Deidara and Sakura together. Was he happy for them? Is that what it was? It couldn't be, because every time he thought about it, he got the feeling that he wanted to punch a wall. Or Deidara. Several times.

Shaking the thoughts away, he quickly made a hot chocolate and walked it back out to the blonde who was waiting impatiently. Deidara took it happily and bid his farewells, telling Sasori to wish him luck, but Sasori decided not to. He leaned against the hostess booth and began playing with the reservation book again. Sakura was old enough to go out with whoever she wanted, so why did he feel the need to go find her and drag her far away from Deidara? Maybe she was like a little kid to him, who was optimistically and innocently walking into Deidara's arms, who had more girls in his bed than he could count. Sasori let a sigh escape his lips. This is why he kept himself busy. Better to work until you got calluses, then let your mind wander.

Deidara got back into his car and set the hot chocolate in the cup holder gently, then put on his seatbelt. He grabbed his phone as he started his car, memorizing Sakura's address. He knew where it was, he use to have a girlfriend that lived over there. Well, she wasn't exactly his girlfriend, but that wasn't the point. Deidara pulled out of Akatsuki's parking lot and drove to Sakura's home.

It was a cute, small house. Seemed like it would fit her. He wondered if she lived alone or had animals or something. She would seem like that kind of person to have like thirty cats and not buy anything for herself until she provided all of her cats with food and toys. Selfless, but weird. He sent her a text and almost a minute later, Sakura came stalking out the house. She had dark wash jeans on and a deep blue top that wrapped nicely around her curved torso, she carried a leather jacket on her arm also. Her hair, as usual, stuck out and her eyes were shining even in the night. She was so pretty.

"Hey." Sakura greeted as she slid into the passenger seat and Deidara smiled charmingly at her.

"Hey." He said. "Ready to get beat?" He teasingly asked and Sakura rolled her eyes, smirking at him as she buckled her seatbelt.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" She countered as Deidara pulled off her curb and drove down the street, heading to the bowling arena. Giving him a once over, she noticed that he had actually seemed to have brushed his hair for once. Not that he ever looked bad before, but he always wore his long hair in a scruffy manner that made him look all no caring and bad boyish. Now he looked put together and neat, like he earned a lot more money than he actually did. He had a nice car, nice clothes and smelled wonderful.

"Well I don't know, didn't your mother ever tell you not to ask stupid questions?" Deidara joked and Sakura laughed, grinning at him. "Hey, I got this for you." He grabbed the hot chocolate and handed it her. Sakura's hands instantly warmed up as she held the cup, her face turning red.

"You bought this?" She asked, blushing madly. She broke open the seal she was supposed to drink out of, steam rising up. Hot chocolate. She loved hot chocolate.

"Nah, Sasori hooked me up." Sakura looked over at Deidara. "Just figured you'd appreciate it." She watched him for a moment, before looking back to her drink. A fond smile crossed her lips.

"Thank you."

They reached the bowling alley about ten minutes later. It wasn't very packed, which Sakura was happy about because she wasn't very fond of crowded places. Deidara paid for their game and shoes and they walked to their lane. Deidara put his bowling shoes on, then tied Sakura's for her and she blushed the entire. After that, they looked for their bowling balls. "Something pink?" Deidara spoke and Sakura scrunched up her nose.

"Nah," She gently played with her hair. "Too much pink." Deidara raised an eyebrow at her.

"I was talking about myself." He said with a straight face and she giggled, shaking her head. Her eyes caught a white one with grey streaks and she walked over to it, checking the weight. Only seventy pounds. She put her fingers and thumb in the holes and lifted the ball, testing the weight on her arm. Felt good. Deidara walked over to her, holding a pink ball on one arm and a blue one with white streaks on the other. "Good?" He asked.

"Yep, I like this one." She answered him, smiling lightly.

"You're not gonna get another one?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"No? Are you supposed to?" She wondered as she looked at both his bowling balls and Deidara shrugged.

"I don't know, I always see other people doing it, so I did it too." He laughed and she shook her head. They walked over to their lane and Sakura logged their names in. She typed out her name, then made Deidara's name 'Loser'. "Oh really?" He put his hands on her shoulders as the pins set themselves up.

"Yes really," Sakura stood to take her turn. "It's only the truth." She winked at him.

"How about we go out tonight, Sasori?" Pein asked his friend, who raised a cautious eyebrow at him. From look he gave him, Pein decided to elaborate. "Well, we both got off pretty early tonight. It's only ten, we could just stop by the bar for a couple of drinks. Like we use to." He offered.

"I haven't drank in months, Pein." Sasori said wearily as they walked out the store together and Pein shrugged.

"Neither have I." He reminded him. It wasn't that Sasori didn't want to go out with Pein, he just didn't really want to go out and drink. He hadn't drank in months and he kind of wanted to keep it that way, but Pein's earnest face and the fact that his boss had been so stressed lately, he couldn't refuse. He'd actually feel bad about something for once in his life.

"Is Konan alright with it?" Sasori asked, wondering what would happen if Pein went out without telling his girlfriend. Death. That's what would happen.

"Yeah, she actually suggested it." Pein admitted. Sasori sighed heavily.

"Sure, let's go." Sasori agreed reluctantly and Pein grinned happily, then it faded some.

"Don't you wanna go home and change first?" He asked and Sasori shook his head, taking his work jacket off. He wore a plain button up on underneath, slacks and plain black shoes. Nothing fancy, nothing too casual. Pein gave Sasori a once over, then shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright fine," He also discarded his jacket, following his friend's lead and tossing it in Sasori's car, then they started strolling. Sasori lived only a little ways from the Akatsuki, even closer to the bar they were heading. No words had to be spoken about plans afterwards. They'd go to Sasori's, sleep off the buzz, then Pein would wake up and walk back to the Akatsuki for his car and go home to Konan. Tomorrow was one of the rare days Sasori didn't have to work, plus Pein was also off, so he figured this was the perfect night to start his mastermind plan of matchmaking.

They reached the bar in ten minutes and Sasori replayed nearly a thousand memories in his head of all the times he had spent in there. Pein and him had come here a lot while Pein was single and a couple of times after Konan became his life. Not that Sasori was jealous, he really wasn't, but he didn't get forced to go out as often. It wasn't like Sasori was antisocial or anything, but he'd rather be inside, away from people and not doing anything except watching T.V and eating Oreos. He liked Oreos.

"Haven't seen you two in a while." Said the bar tender, Tenten, who had been serving them drinks for almost five years. Sasori nodded at her and Pein smiled, taking a seat on one of the bar stools.

"Yeah, I'm surprised you're still working here." Pein pointed out and Tenten sighed dreamily, looking around at the bar she had been employed at for the longest time. She had gotten a job here when she was seventeen, lying to the manager and saying she was actually eighteen. Boy was he surprised when her real eighteenth birthday rolled around.

"I'm not." She giggled lightly. "I do love this place." Fondly, she stared around for a moment longer, before looking back at the men before her. "The regulars?" Tenten asked and Sasori and Pein exchanged glances.

"Yeah, why not?" Pein shrugged and Sasori nodded.

"Please." He said and Tenten smiled, then turned around and began making their drinks. Pein, taking on that fond look Tenten had, looked around the bar. It was a nice little place. It served fast food, nothing fancy and had tables and chairs laying around. Like any other bar, a pool table sat in the corner, a dart board not far from it, drunk idiots throwing sharpened points. Safe. The bar covered one whole wall and said wall was covered in neon lights, flashing along with the beat of the music. Before it use to amuse Pein, now it just gave him a headache.

"Remember all those pretty girls that use to come up to us?" Pein asked out of the blue and Sasori blinked at him, then looked around the bar. He could see some of those pretty girls eyeing them now.

"I guess." Sasori shrugged, there wasn't many girls Sasori remembered in particular. But they were all pretty of course. He might be a stick in the mud, but he would always give one in a million girls who came up to him a fair shot. Most of them were just bed mates though. Nothing more.

"Hm," Pein sighed. "I am glad I settled down with Konan though." He smiled lightly at the thought of his girlfriend.

"When you gonna pop the question?" Sasori asked quietly, playing with a napkin that had been folded neatly in front of him. Tenten always tended to do that. Place napkins down just in case someone spilled something. Pein shrugged.

"Soon." He looked over at his long time friend. "When you gonna get a girlfriend?"

"Three months after my sixty third birthday." Sasori answered with a straight face and Pein gave him a pointed look, obviously not amused. "Oh, but of course, only after I've retired and moved to Alaska."

"You hate the snow." Pein pointed out in a flat tone.

"Hm, well." Sasori was barley keeping a smirk off his face. Pein groaned and rolled his eyes as Tenten came back with their drinks, then went to serve other customers.

"You know, you should maybe start dating." Pein said gently and Sasori just looked at him for a few moments, before pursing his lips.

"Is this about Sakura?" He asked and Pein raised his eyebrows. He was caught, but he could get out of it if he played it right.

"What? No." He shook his head, adverting eye contact. "Why do you think that?" Pein sipped his drink, grimacing at how strong it was. He hadn't drank in a while and the taste was kind of effecting him. Tonight felt like a lightweight night. A bitter look crossed Sasori's face, a rare show of emotion that wasn't sadistic or joking, as he sipped his own drink.

"I'm not stupid." Sasori looked at the glass in his hand with knitted eyebrows. How was he able to get this down before? He ignored that fact and took another sip. "Ever since she started working with us, you've been obsessed with my love life."

"No," Pein shook his head. "Ever since Sakura started working with us, you've been different." He said and Sasori looked at his friend, raising an eyebrow. Then he shook his head.

"No I have not." Sakura didn't change anything about him from stepping foot in that restaurant as an employee. He's been the same since he stepped out that jail cell all those years ago. Though he shook those thoughts off.

"You have, you're nice to her." Pein said and Sasori shook his head again.

"No I'm not." He refused to agree with Pein's crazy assumption. Yeah, he was technically 'nice' to Sakura, in a sense, but again, he was mean to her too. Well, actually, the last time he really remembered being mean was probably when he sent her home that one day and that was a while ago…

"Well, you're not mean to her." Pein caught him and Sasori glared at his boss, drinking out his glass. Pein smiled. "You like her, don't you?" His eyebrows raised in excitement.

"No," Sasori denied instantly. "If it makes you happy, yes I think she's attractive and yes, she would probably be great girlfriend material. Just not for me." He polished off his drink and lifted it up to catch Tenten's attention. Pein sagged, defeated in his seat.

"You know she went out with Deidara tonight?" He brought up after Sasori had gotten his drink refilled. Pein figured out another approach. Sakura had to be slightly special if Sasori had admitted to finding her attractive. Now, he just had to use Sasori's emotions against him, even though he barley had any.

"Yeah, Deidara came by and got her a hot chocolate." He said quietly, downing half his drink. It had begun to start tasting better now and he remembered why he had liked it so much.

"How do you feel about that?" Pein asked slyly and Sasori stared in his half empty glass, watching the dark liquid swish around as he tilted the cup. How did he feel about it? Well, he didn't really know, but he knew he wanted to take Sakura away from Deidara. What if they slept together? No, no Sakura wasn't that kind of person. Sasori took another drink of the alcohol.

"It makes me sick." He, for once, answered truthfully. Pein smiled, but he decided to leave it at that. It was enough prying for one night, he figured out some things and had more questions for others, but now he just needed to have fun.

"I figured it would."

"I had…so much fun, Deidara." Sakura said, smiling from ear to ear as Deidara pulled up in front of her house. She kind of didn't want the night to end. Spending time with Deidara felt like hanging out with someone she hadn't seen in a while. It was easy and fun. She liked that. Deidara grinned back.

"I'm glad."

"Thank you for…the hot chocolate and the game and even the ice cream." She giggled. "I never knew they would still be open past ten." He chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah I go there all the time." His eyes sparkled mischievously at her. "Seems like you liked it too, since you had to put half the ice cream on your face before you ate it." Sakura laughed and pushed his arm gently.

"It was really good!" She defended her messy eating style.

"Looked like it." They smiled at each other, then he looked out her window at her porch. "Want me to walk you to your door?" He asked politely and she smiled slyly at him.

"Why, so you can kiss me?" She teased and he shrugged, smirking.

"I mean…" He trailed off, glancing at her lips that were tugged up.

"Well, I don't kiss on the first date." She let him know and like always when Deidara had found something witty to say, his eyes seemed to sparkle in the light. He leaned towards her.

"Glad I took you to the ice cream parlor then." Then he kissed her and Sakura's eyes fluttered shut as she kissed him back. Her heart was beating a thousand beats per second and her face and neck were getting hot. She hadn't kissed anyone in so long, especially someone as cute as Deidara. He gently put his hand on her cheek, running his thumb along her cheek bone. They kissed for a little longer, before Deidara pulled away from the kiss and Sakura backed up as well, covering her mouth as though she was afraid he'd kiss her again. But she wasn't, she actually wanted him too. Deidara smiled at her. "Goodnight Sakura,"

"Go-goodnight, Deidara." Sakura stuttered, then got out his car, giving him one last smile before she closed the door. Deidara watched her jog up to her porch, unlock her door, then beeped as she waved, walking into her house. Part of him wished he could follow her in there, but Sakura wasn't that type of girl. And he knew that. He'd actually have to work for this one.

* * *

Did you like it? I know I didn't say it, but there was a long time skip, probably like two months and she's been working there for a little bit. I needed a little romancing in here, but don't get too wrapped up in Deidara and Sakura, we all know who she'll end up with happily ever after. But of course, getting there is always the funn part :D

Review and favorite and follow please and thank you! ^.^


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